Welcome to Hyperion Records, an independent British classical label devoted to presenting high-quality recordings of music of all styles and from all periods from the twelfth century to the twenty-first.

Hyperion offers both CDs, and downloads in a number of formats. The site is also available in several languages.

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Introduction

Romanticism’s fascination with all things Celtic fuelled the cottage industry in German translations of the works of Sir Walter Scott; in fact, Mendelssohn’s setting of Ave Maria from Scott’s long romance-poem The Lady of the Lake (translated by Adam Storck) precedes Schubert’s famous Ellens Gesang III D839 by five years. Schubert knew the context in Scott’s narrative, in which Roderick Dhu, chief of the Clan Alpine and hopelessly in love with Ellen Douglas, overhears her harp-accompanied song to the Virgin, but the eleven-year-old Felix channels Bach and Handel for his semi-sacred song, set over an octave-reinforced ‘walking bass’ throughout.

Recordings

Eugene Asti’s pioneering series, containing a large number of first recordings and rarities, concludes with this fifth volume, a generous two CDs for the price of one. It places Mendelssohn firmly in the canon of the great Lieder composers.» More